Warren Connecticut

The March 25 meeting of the Building Committee began with the election of Nancy Scofield and Toni Richardson as co-chairs of the committee.

Request for funds to study:

Jack Travers indicated there is a need to request funds for study of renovations or an addition at a town meeting.  Jack suggested recommending the town take $20,000 for seed money from capital and non-recurring expenses and the committee agreed. This can be addressed at a town meeting on April 22.

He announced that there will be a town meeting in the middle of April to deal with the fund issue and other town business.

Jack suggested a subcommittee be formed to interview architects and get some solid cost figures. The committee will be charged to develop two plans to take before the town and a referendum. He emphasized that one option cannot be to NOT do anything to the town hall.

Discussion of architect: Subcommittee will send out a request for proposals within the next two weeks if possible.

Members of the subcommittee will  be Jack, Cindy, Toni and Nancy.

The RFP will seek recommendations from an architect as to whether to renovate, add on, build a separate recreation facility, and deal with the library, other projected needs and codes.  It will ask for a concept and estimated costs.  The subcommittee will meet on March 31 at 9:30 am in the town hall to begin work on the RFP. The subcommittee was cautioned to remember that architects don’t estimate costs and when they do the overestimate.  Whoever does the study will need very strict guidelines.

When the committee receives recommendations, there will be a town meeting to review the options.

The Committee agreed to try to keep some steady meeting schedule. Regular meeting date for this committee:  Tuesday night April 27 and fourth Tuesdays thereafter. At 7:30 pm.

The Committee entertained comments from members of the public who attended the meeting.

One resident expressed concern that the committee would only consider one plan.  He pointed out that the town hall is the one thing the town controls.  If the auditorium must go, there is a need to consider how to replace it.

Another pointed out that renovation of the town hall now takes away space for recreation that we will need later.

Jim Richardson, a member of the committee indicated that whatever space is used for recreation, it will need to include supervision and authorization.

Another resident expressed concern that committee members who represented organizations did not receive marching orders from their organizations, pointing out that the auditorium is not ideal space, “but it is all we’ve had.”

Jack Travers emphasized that there will be a hearing and referendum before anything can be done.

The Warren Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) met the evening of March 24 to hear from citizens on the application of Terry and Cindy Shook of 268 Brick School road to build a horse barn / riding arena on their property located between 55 and 31 Brick School Road.  The Planning and Zoning Commission had referred the application to ZBA because it did not meet the requirement that an accessory building be on property with an existing dwelling.

The Shooks explained that they want to construct an 80 x 150 foot building that would house their horses and provide a large open space for exercising them in winter.  They noted that farming is permitted in the area and that they might decide to keep sheep and other farm animals there in addition to the horses.  They said that they do not wish to build a home on this property since they already have one on Brick School road and constructing another would be prohibitive.

The ZBA chair, Ann Martindale,  noted the board had received a letter in opposition to the proposed construction from a neighbor.  The letter expressed concern that there would be no one living on the property to care for and supervise the animals, that such a large building would change the character of the area and be detrimental to property values.  Another neighbor expressed concern with the size and absence of a residence on the property and the possiblity that it might be used for commercial purposes.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the ZBA discussed the application, noting that all members had visited the site.  Members noted that the property is two building lots.  Board members noted that in order to grant an exception there needs to be some evidence of hardship and there is no  hardship since there is another reasonable use of the property as building lots.  One member noted that, if approved, the building “…would be one of the largest in town” and would change the character of the area.

After polling members for their views, the ZBA voted to reject the application.

Warren Volunteer Fire Company hosted an appreciation dinner at the Warren Church Parish Hall on March 19th. Approximately 100 people attended, and many people were honored - from first year members on up. Warren is proud to have many long time members of the Fire Company, including some of the original “founding fathers.”

Rep Craig Minor presented a certificate to Irving Wasley for his fifty-eight years as a member of the Fire Company (and still active). Outgoing Fire Chief Robert Rumble was honored for his 25 years of service as well as eight years serving as Fire Chief.

Many people have completed certifications this past year, including hazardous materials operations, emergency medical certification, and CDL driver certification.

A Fire Fighter 2 class is currently underway, and we have yet another EMT trainee who is awaiting National registry testing.

The Fire Company wishes to extend a heartfelt thanks to all in the community who lend a helping hand throughout the year, and issue an invitation to townspeople to get involved.

Posted by Hideaway

It’s Spring and bears are in the area. Last night on Brick School Road my birdfeeder was “lowered” by a bear. No other damage but footprints in the snow. If you see a bear and would to report it to DEP, they keep records of reported sightings, here is the link. http://dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/wildlife/sighting/bearsight.asp

Planning and Zoning Notes
March 9, 2004

The March 9 meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission tackled a long agenda. They began by tabling an application for timber harvest on behalf of Jack and Ellen Baron of Kent Road.

Violations: Action on two violations of zoning rules was reviewed. The owner of property at 159 Cornwall Road has not responded to the Commission’s letter and unregistered vehicles remain on site. Members who attend an upcoming seminar on land use will seek advice on options for enforcement. The owner of property at 205 Cornwall Road has not responded and the rock-crushing equipment remains on site. There have been no reports of noise or operation of the equipment, however.

Accessory Structures: The Commission continued its ongoing discussion of the regulation of accessory structures. This time they had a draft of an outline before them. Most agreed that some sort of standard or policy needs to be set to assure consistency in the application of zoning rules to such structures. The draft outline divides structures into three categories:

(1) Roadside, accessory buildings
(2) ornamental structures and additions
(3) mechanical structures and enclosures

It sets out types of structures that can be built without zoning permit such as mailboxes and fences under 6 feet high and those that might be permitted closer to roads. It was noted that usual setback lines such as bus shelters may need to be closer to property lines to allow for placement at the end of driveways. Detailed discussion of the outline is planned for the April meeting.

Subdivision Roads: The Commission had scheduled discussion of new subdivision regulation to address private roads. Jack Travers, First Selectman, said is still discussing the language with the attorney and was not ready to make a presentation. This discussion was postponed to the April meeting.

Dock Regulations: Tom McGowan representing the Lake Waramaug Authority spoke to the Commission about potential regulations addressing docks. He thanked the Commission for adopting regulations protecting the lake and told them that Washington has adopted similar rules. Washington went farther in dealing with docks and came up with new rules which he provided to the commission in a one page summary. (The new Washington regulations can be found at www.washingtonct.org ). He encouraged Warren to adopt “more robust” regulations than now exist, even if not identical to Washington. Chairman Wayne Wilson indicated a desire to review the Washington regulations in their entirety and further discussion was tabled to the April meeting.

Fence regulations near the lake: McGowan said that the Lake Waramaug Association would like to see some regulation of privacy fences which are beginning to restrict the views around the lake and obstructing views of traffic, causing shadows leading to ice patches, etc. This, too, was tabled for further research and discussion.

Budget Review: the Commission decided to request the same budget as last year, since expenditures have been under good control.

Recent subdivision ruling: a member provided noted a recent ruling on the application of zoning regulations to subdivision lots. It held that subdivision lots are governed by the regulations in effect at the time the subdivision was created and not by subsequent enactments. State law changes have been considered by provide some limits on this court ruling.

Accessory Apartments: Selectman Travers introduced the topic. The current size of accessory apartments (like mother-in-law apartments) of 600 square feet is quite small for today’s life styles and handicapped accessibility sometimes drives size requirements up. Currently one accessory apartment is allowed. It can be separate from the main house and must be on a minimum 2 acre lot. A change to 900 square feet was suggested.

February ZEO report: Permits were issued to: Richard & Sally Doyle at 164 Town Hill Road for a stand by generator and out door wood furnace; Maureen Morrill for a house with garage on Lot 9A at 34 Sheehan road. The commission noted that Sheehan Road is a private road and not maintained by the town.

March ZEO report: Permits were issued to: Daniel Lago 34 Kent Road for a storage shed; David Gereg & Shannon Strong, 61 Valley Road for a house and barn; Thomas Schoeller, 77 Couch Road for a three season room and porch and Ralf & Patty Hasemann 366 Brick School Road for a house and barn.

ZEO report on new and ongoing issues: Mike Ajello, ZEO reported that people are asking him to supply letters to banks indicating that a lot is fully buildable. The Commission instructed him to tell them that they need to apply for permits and secure approval in the usual way. People looking to join two lots in a subdivision are balking at the $200 filing fee to modify a subdivision. Several members suggested changing the process or at least lowering the fee.

This is a PDF version of the March, 2004 Warren Observer newsletter. Click on it to download it to your computer, then print it and you’ll have the exact same newsletter that was sent out.

Warren Observer 3-04

You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer (Mac or PC) to open and print this file. Almost all computers come with it (so don’t download it unless you need it) but just in case, you can get it here:

Adobe Acrobat Reader